J. S. Bach: The Organ Works

Bach’s organ works—more than 250 chorale settings and free pieces—were preserved as precious relics by his sons and students after his death. Filled with bold, dramatic passages and fully independent pedal parts, they represent the most important body of music in the organ repertoire and the only genre that Bach turned to continuously throughout his life, from his earliest efforts as a teenager in Ohrdruf to his final deathbed revisions as a dying cantor in Leipzig. This new account is the first to trace the evolution of the organ works within the broad context of Bach’s development as a composer. With detailed discussions of the individual pieces, it shows how Bach initially drew on contemporary models from Germany and France before evolving a personal idiom based on the concertos of Antonio Vivaldi. In Leipzig he went still further, synthesizing national and historical styles to produce cosmopolitan masterpieces of supreme elegance and sophistication. Serving as a backdrop to this growth was the emergence of the Central German pre-Romantic organ, which inspired Bach to write pieces with unique chamber music, choral, and orchestral qualities. This survey follows these developments through each phase, showing how Bach’s unending quest for novelty, innovation, and refinement resulted in organ works that continue to reward and astound listeners today.